NJ court ends Emily Fisher Charter School's fight to stay open

Emily Fisher Charter School lost its fight to stay open as a state court denied a request from the 14-year-old charter school that sought to block the New Jersey Department of Education’s shutdown order from taking effect.

“I am sad to report that the closing of Emily Fisher Charter School is now official as of June 29, 2012,” Emily Fisher Executive Director Dallas Dixon said on Monday. “The court has not granted our request for a stay.”

Dixon, who founded Emily Fisher in 1998, added, “Accordingly, we will work diligently to transition our students to their new schools as seamlessly as possible.”

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The shutdown order means the nearly 400 students that Emily Fisher enrolls will have to resume education elsewhere. By default, the displaced Emily Fisher students will attend Trenton public school district schools if they don’t find alternatives. The shutdown also means Emily Fisher’s 100 employees will lose their jobs.

The New Jersey Department of Education on March 2 announced it wouldn’t renew Emily Fisher’s charter. Chris Cerf, who heads the department as Gov. Chris Christie’s top education official, wrote the rejection letter and cited “poor student performance” as a key reason for why he wanted the school to cease operations effective June 29.

Cerf said New Jersey standardized testing results revealed that Emily Fisher was “performing in the bottom 3 percent in the state,” and said, “Overall, the school’s test scores have not improved over the last three years.”

Emily Fisher disagreed with Cerf’s assertions, accusing him of making his decision “based on demonstrably erroneous data and demonstrably incorrect interpretation of the data.”

The charter school in March pleaded with Cerf to reconsider his decision and also held a rally outside the Education Department’s offices in a showcase of solidarity among the students, parents and employees associated with Emily Fisher. The charter school cited data showing it had improving test scores and outperformed Trenton School District schools in several areas.

“We’re just looking for another year to prove ourselves,” Dixon said at the March 28 rally. “To shut down the school when it’s turning around is counterproductive. They are looking for turnaround schools, and they have one right here.”

With Cerf sticking with his decision, the charter school took the matter to court and requested a stay of enforcement. The appeals process could have taken months to play out, but the stay of enforcement, if granted, would have allowed Emily Fisher to continue operating into the 2012-13 academic year.

Any New Jersey charter school that’s ordered to close has the right to appeal the state’s decision, but none of the 16 charter schools that the state shuttered since the Charter School Program Act of 1995 has been successful on appeal.